Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour—Canadian Armed Forces
Opening Statement to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts
Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour—Canadian Armed Forces
(Report 5—2018 Fall Reports of the Auditor General of Canada)
29 January 2019
Andrew Hayes
Deputy Auditor General
Mr. Chair, thank you for this opportunity to discuss our fall 2018 report on inappropriate sexual behaviour in the Canadian Armed Forces. Joining me at the table is Robyn Roy, who was the acting Director for the audit.
In July 2014, the Chief of the Defence Staff requested an external independent review of the Forces’ policies, procedures, and programs on inappropriate sexual behaviour. Former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Marie Deschamps carried out the review and reported her findings and recommendations in a March 2015 report.
In August 2015, the Chief of the Defence Staff launched Operation HONOUR, a top-down, institution-wide military operation to eliminate inappropriate sexual behaviour. He informed all Forces members that he and senior leaders intended to change the culture in the Forces and stop this behaviour.
Our audit focused on whether the Canadian Armed Forces adequately responded to inappropriate sexual behaviour through actions to respond to and support victims and to understand and prevent such behaviour. The goal of the audit was not to conclude on the success of Operation HONOUR, but to provide an external review of the Forces’ progress at a point in time, 3 years into the Operation’s implementation.
We found that the Canadian Armed Forces offered or referred members affected by inappropriate sexual behaviour to various victim support services, including the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre. However, we found gaps in those services. The Forces did not design and implement Operation HONOUR with a primary focus on victim support, and the services were not well coordinated. Therefore, victims did not always have easy access to the right services at the right time. We also found that not all support service providers had sufficient training to adequately respond to victims.
In addition, we found that the Canadian Armed Forces did not always resolve reported cases on inappropriate sexual behaviour in a timely, consistent, and respectful manner. As a result, some victims did not report or they withdrew their complaints, and they had less confidence that the investigations would produce any tangible results.
After the implementation of Operation HONOUR, the number of reported complaints increased from almost 40 in 2015 to about 300 in 2017. The Forces believed that the increase was a sign that members trusted that the organization would effectively respond to inappropriate sexual behavior.
However, we found that some members still did not feel safe and supported. For example, the duty to report all incidents of inappropriate sexual behaviour had unintended consequences: It forced victims to report when they were not ready or did not want to. This discouraged some victims from coming forward. The duty to report requirement provided no balance between the legal responsibility to protect the safety of members and the need to support a victim’s wish to not proceed with a formal complaint. It also placed commanding officers in an ethical dilemma: They had to choose between abiding by the duty to report and supporting victims’ wishes.
We also found that education and training on inappropriate sexual behaviour was not adequate. Although the Canadian Armed Forces increased members’ awareness of inappropriate sexual behaviour, it did not provide enough information on the causes and effects of such behaviour or how to respond to and support victims. In April 2018, the Forces introduced the Respect in the Canadian Armed Forces Workshop, which represents a more complete approach and addresses the shortcomings we identified in other training delivered over the audit period.
Finally, we found that the Canadian Armed Forces did not adequately monitor the effectiveness of Operation HONOUR in eliminating inappropriate sexual behaviour. The Forces had no source of independent, objective information to know how well the Operation was working. Also, the information that the Forces collected on incidents of inappropriate sexual behaviour was of poor quality. Furthermore, the Forces did not have a performance measurement framework to measure and monitor the results of the Operation across the organization.
We concluded that the Canadian Armed Forces had not yet fully accomplished what it intended through its actions to respond to and support victims and to understand and prevent inappropriate sexual behaviour. We recommended that the Forces make victim support a top priority, provide better education and training on the causes and effects of inappropriate sexual behaviour, and incorporate more independent external advice and review to ensure that the Forces can achieve the objectives of Operation HONOUR.
National Defence agreed with all our recommendations and has prepared a detailed action plan.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening remarks. We would be pleased to answer any questions the Committee may have. Thank you.